Levi Davis (abt. 1753 - abt. 1836)

Born about 15 Jan 1753 in Prince George's County, Colony of Maryland, British Colonial America [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Lydia (Kearns) Davis — married 14 Mar 1786 in Fauquier County, Virginia, USA

Descendants

Died about 17 Jan 1836 at about age 83 in Tennessee, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jamie Nelson [send private message]

Biography

Levi Davis was a Maryland colonist.

Levi Davis migrated from Maryland to Virginia.

Levi Davis migrated from Virginia to North Carolina.

Levi Davis migrated from North Carolina to Tennessee.

Sergeant Levi Davis served with Virginia Militia during the American Revolution.

Levi stated in his pension application that he was born (to the best of his knowledge) in March 1752 in Prince George's County, Maryland. He did not mention the names of his parents.^[1] There was a Charles Davis with a son Levi whose will is in the records of Fauquier County, Virginia (where Levi was married). From the book "Abstracts of Fauquier County, Virginia":

DAVIS, Charles

16 May 1796. 24 Sept. 1798.

Wife Lydia to have estate during life and widowhood. Daughters, Lucy Wheat

and Lydia Davis. Sons: Griffith, Charles, William, Levi, Richard and John.

Two granddaughters - Elizabeth Davis, Elizabeth Davis - personal property.

Exrs: Sons, Griffith, Charles, William. Wit: James H. Beckman, Gerrard

Keating, Jemina Keating. (p. 140)

The Levi mentioned in this will may be the same person as the subject of this biography. ^[2]

Levi lived in Prince George's County until he was 11 years old. At that time he moved with his father to Prince William County, Virginia. ^[1] This would have been around 1763.

In 1777 Levi volunteered to fight in the Revolutionary War. ^[1]

After living in Price William County for 16 years, Levi moved to Bedford County, Virginia. ^[1] This would have been around 1779.

He married Lydia Kearnes on March 14, 1786 in Fauquier County, Virginia. ^[3]

He moved to Rockingham County, North Carolina around 1792. He only stayed there for a year. ^[1]

He moved to Stokes County, North Carolina around 1793. He lived there until 1809. ^[1]

He moved to Knox County, Tennessee in 1809. He lived there for 13 years before moving again. ^[1]

In about 1822 he moved to Overton, Tennessee. He remained there until around 1834, when he moved back to Knox County. ^[1]

Pension Application

Transcribed by Jamie Nelson from online images of Levi's applications. ^[1] Jamie does not claim the transcription is free from error.

Levi Davis
Knox Co. in the State of Tennessee
[?] was a Sergeant in the company commanded
Captain Tibbs of the [?] commanded
Col. Ewell in the Virginia mil.
[?] for 11 months & 25 days

[...]

State of Tennessee on this 14th day of August 1834 [?]
Knox County [?] appeared in open court at
a circuit court now sitting for said county before
the Honorable Edward Scott Judge. Levi Davis a
citizen of said county aged 82 years [?] being [?]
[?] to law [?] his [?] make
the following declaration in [?] to attain the
benefit of an act of congress passed on the 5th of
June 1832 - that he was born in Price George Cty.
Maryland in March 1752 as well as he is [?] in-
formed that he lived there until he was eleven
years old, when he moved with his father into
Price William County Virginia, where he lived
about 16 years when he moved to Bedford county
Virginia, where he lived until sometime in 1792
when he moved into Rockingham County N.C. where
he lived but one year when he moved into Stokes Cty
N.C. where he lived until about 1809 when he moved
to Knox county Tennessee where he lived 13 years
when he moved to Overton Tenn. where he has
lived until a short time ago when he came
to this county, Knox. - He states that sometime
early in the year 1777 while living in Price William
county Virginia, he entered the army of the United
States as a volunteer and enrolled for the term of one
year into a company of [?] commanded by Cap-
tain Tibbs, lieutenant James Tibbs, and Robert
Young - applicant calls his enrollment an
enlistment but he does not believe his
company was of the continental army but some
[?] organization of the militia - he knows
however that he was enrolled for one year -
some short time after his enrollment the report was
that the British were going to land somewhere
along the coast of Price Williams County, and
applicant with his company were ordered to

march to Dumfries - while here applicant frequently
saw the British shipping and remains at that sta-
tion he believes for four months [?] to pre-
vent them from landing - about this time the shipping
went out of view and there being a great call for men
at Charleston and at Philadelphia applicants whole
company except himself enlisted into the continen-
tal army for three years and marched as applicant
believes to Charleston - applicant not wishing to
serve longer than one year refused to go with them
he was transferred into the minute service and was
under the command of lieutenant [?] McMillan
and he thinks his new regiment was under the
command of Col. Lee - in this service applicant con-
tinued until sometime in September he thinks early
in the month he was transferred into a company
of militia commanded by Captain [?]
[?] - which company was attached
to a Regiment under the command of Col. [?]
Ewell of Prince William County - under these officers
applicant marched on toward the main army then
near Philadelphia - and when he had passed [?]
[?] Penn. he [?] of hearing the roar of
cannons which afterwards proved to be at the
battle of Germantown - he joined the main army
then under General Washington somewhere near or
above Germantown - and he continued in reach
of the main army making frequent excursions
to the [?] and other ports up upon
the Schuylkill River until the period for which
had entered the service had expired when he was
ordered to return home - applicant states that
frequently during the year 1778 when there was a
[?] that the British were [?] to
land he volunteered his service and marched to
resist them - he [?] came that

they had landed at Cap. [?], he thinks in
Stafford county, on the Potamic river, he volunteered
with several others and went and drove the British
to their shipping after they had destroyed [?]
stocks of grain and his [?] out houses - applicant
thinks he was eight days in this scout - he
states that he volunteered during the year
1778 for the purpose of preventing the British
from landing so frequently and at so many
places that he cannot describe particularly the
monuments or details of each campaign, nor did
he march under any officer particularly but [?]
[?] to the scene of invasion whenever and where-
ever he thought his services were needed and when
arrived put himself under any officer that
the superior officers would direct - he thinks
that in this way he performed services equal
to two whole months - applicant states that
late in the summer or early in the fall of 1779
after he had moved to Bedford county Va. he
was drafted for a term of three months and
was enrolled into a company commanded by
captain Jeremiah [?] which company was
attached to a regiment under the command
of Col. Callaway of Bedford county - under
these officers applicant marched down tow-
wards Elizabeth City to repel the British who
threatened to land there - before reaching them
however the British had sailed off, but [?]
[?] along the coast until the three months
for which he had been drafted had nearly
expired when the enemy having entirely disapp-
eared [?] returned home - applicant states
that sometime about the first of February
1781 he was again drafted in Bedford county,
for a term of three months and was en-

rolled into a company commanded by Captain [?] -
[?] Richardson - and lieutenant Matthew [?]
company was attached to a regiment under the
command of Col. Charles Lynch - he states that
he marched under these officers and joined the
main army sometime before the battle of Guil-
ford and was then put under the command of
Col. Washington and Lee as the light infantry
of their regiments - applicant states that he met
the enemy on the 13th March near Guilford and
was in the hottest and earliest part of the
engagement - after the battle at Guilford app-
licant continued with the main army until
they reached [?] river when the pursuit being
abandoned applicant with his company were
ordered to return home the three months for
which he had been drafted having nearly
expired - applicant states that he served as
have described twenty months as a private
for which he claims a pension - he states that
he has no record of his age but believes from [?]
best information he has that he has stated his
age correctly - he states that the individuals [?]
whom he is known in his neighborhood who
can testify to his veracity and his reputation
for having performed revolutionary services
are Edward Epps, Charles Price and others -
he states that there is no clergyman in his neigh-
borhood - he states that he never received a
discharge for any of his services nor has he any do-
cumentary evidence whatever of his service nor does
he know of any person whose testimony he can
procure who can testify to his services - he hereby
relinquishes every claim to an annuity of pen-
sion except the present and declares that
his name is not on the pension roll

of the agency of any state.
Sworn to and subscribed in
open court this 14th August 1834.

[...]

State of Tennessee on this 11th day of October 1834
Knox County Personally appeared before Zac
Boothe an acting Justice of the Peace for said
county Levi Davis a citizen of said county and
being sworn on the [?] of Almighty
God doth on his oath make this additional [?]
[?] declaration in order to attain the [?]
[?] of an act of congress passed on the 5th June 1882
that after the four months has expired which
he performed at Dumfries as stated in his
former declaration, and which he now believes to
have been in the month of May - he states that at
that time his impression is that he entered the minute
service and continued in constant service under
the officers mentioned in his former declaration
sometimes at Dumfries, after first leaving there,
at other times marching along the Bay and
guarding the coast of Prince William and Stafford
counties and when not marching were kept
[?] and was in constant service - appli-
cant states that he cannot mention more [?]
[?] that he [?] the incidents of this
service - its whole theatre is confined to the
[?] of two counties which were under
the constant apprehension of a [?] invasion
and he and his comrades were always ready
under arms and [?] to repel it - he states
that at the time his company broke up at
Dumfries by enlisting, he told his officer that
he was [?] to serve the year out, but no
longer, and that he as a volunteer attached
himself to the minute service - it was the same
way with his entering the militia in the cam-
paign to Philadelphia he may be said to
have joined it as a volunteer - he states that his
[?] campaign was for three months

which he served to the entire end and which
brought his first year to within 15 days of a
close - he states that the two campaigns which
he has mentioned as having [?] for
three months, he performed actual service in
each campaign of two months and twenty five
days for which he claims a pension -
sworn to and subscribed
before me this 11th Oct. 1834

[...]

Research Notes

• A note in the original profile import read: "Levi migrated to Prince George Co. Maryland. Levi fought in the Revolutionary War. He received a Pension for being a vet. Levi was first listed in the Census in the U.S. in the year of 1790 in North Carolina. Tennessee was admitted to the Union 1796. It came under the state of North Carolina and that state did give out large tract of land to men that had been in the military or did a good deed. Levi was not listed in the 1820 Census. It was probably due to the fact that he was moving his family at that period. Levi received a land Grant #300 from North Carolina between 1800-1820."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} "U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900," digital images, HeritageQuest Online (http://www.ancestryheritagequest.com : accessed 21 November 2015), Levi Davis; "D > Davis, Ichabod - Dean, Robert > Davis, Lathrop - Davis, Moses", images 186 - 207.
2. ↑ Ancestry.com. Abstracts of Fauquier County, Virginia [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: King, Junie Estelle Stewart. Abstracts of Wills, Administrations, and Marriages of Fauquier County, Virginia, 1759-1800. Baltimore, MD, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2001. Will Book Number 3 1796-1803, image 40, Charles Davis.
3. ↑ "Virginia, Marriages, 1785-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR8X-VR7 : accessed 22 November 2015), Levi Davis and Lydia Kearnes, 14 Mar 1786; citing Fauquier County, Virginia, reference 171; FHL microfilm 31,633.